Memoirs of Yakov
Kopelansky z'l

Yakov
Kopelansky, a retired welder and supervisor in a tank factory, was born
and raised in Uzpaliai, survived the Holocaust, then life in Lithuania
under Soviet rule. He and his wife lived in Israel for many years.
He has written his memories of life in Uzpaliai both before and during
World War II.

It is impossible to write
everything about the former shtetlekh [small towns] that were
annihilated, about Jewish treasures. My memory is prompted by my heart
to remember so much and I need to describe what I have not described in
my published book, Was and Is No Longer. As others, I will begin
with my birthplace, Ushpol [Uzpaliai] that to those in the Jewish
Lithuanian shtetlekh brought to mind Psalm readers and the Psalm nigunim
[melodies] that came down from the times of King David. And what
kindness embellished shtetl life –
remembering the deceased with a pinch of snuff and with a page of Gemara
[Talmud] and by taking a bite of a bagel and studying a page of Gemara
together with others. There were many among the "stall Jews"
[Translator’s note: Jews who had stalls in the market] who knew, and
told tales from dear ancient grandfathers about their
grandfathers. The adult generation, we students from the Jewish Folks-Shul
and kheder youngsters would listen with open mouths and write
everything in our books. I will tell everything about all of the events
and they were not all bubbe-mayses [fairy tales]. Nicknames were
a custom in the shtetlekh, and the nickname was a way to
embellish daily life with great humor. Even the shtetlekh had
nicknames, for example, Ushpol (greedy), Viszuner (whipper), Szwader
(ghosts), Aloker [Alka] (moon). What happened is [reflected] in the
nicknames. As Jews would meet at the market they would greet each other;
the shtetl nicknames would ring with a type of humor. Here, I
will particularly underline that "Me ligt in dr’erd un me bakt
beigl" was very often said [Translator’s note: Literally, We
lay in the earth and we bake bagels – We are dead and buried]. This,
too, was the day-to-day talk. I will only recall from where these words
came: in the shtetlekh, a custom was introduced that the deceased
would be remembered with bagels. It thus remained in daily speech.

Who were the Psalm readers?
They were simple Jews. However, as I remember, you could not confuse
them with a page of the Gemara and its commentary by Rashi. Every
shabbos after Minkhah [the afternoon prayer], they would
read Psalms. It was a long time until Ma’ariv [the evening
prayers] and some even remained until after havdalah [the closing
Sabbath prayer] studying a page of Gemara. There were two houses
of prayer in the shtetl. The misnagdim [orthodox opponents
of the Hasidim] would pray in the synagogue. In the other, everyone
would wear the same clothing, some without the long curly peyes [sidelocks],
without tsitses [fringes] hanging out. Longer, curly peyes were
also worn; others would only clip their beard. Arbakonfes [top
undergarment with 4 sets of fringes worn by pious men] were worn, but
with the tsitses tucked inside of the undergarment. Psalm
readers, in the beis midrash, in minyonim [prayer groups
of 10 men stood along the tables near the ovens.

Everyone sat down as one
family and there were no differences. I will begin with the beis
midrash of the misnagdim. There was the Psalm reader Moshe
Britaniski… He was a tanner. However, he would sing with a special nigun
[melody]. I would say there was delicateness. The second was Berl. I
do not precisely remember his surname. His nickname was Kwitz. He
was not a healthy person; his friends would not let him get tired. He
was capable of reciting well. Abraham Kotler (Avremkis) was a butcher
and was our bel-tefilah [cantor or person who prays at the
lectern]. Even Lithuanians would come to hear him. He was not as capable
of reciting Psalms well. Welwel Katz (der geler bord [the blond
beard]) was a driver (a balel agole Hebrew/Yiddish for wagon
driver]); he was also our bel-tefilah. However he was not capable
of reciting Psalms. He had a black beard. Several blond hairs appeared
in his beard, so he became dergeler [the blond one] in
the shtetl. Borukh
Lit was well-to-do. He would daven
[pray] nicely. However, he was not capable of reciting the Psalms so
well. Meir-Yitzhak Shapiro was the richest Jew in the shtetl. Elihennoch
Fisher (Eljakos) was the gabay (sexton) in the
synagogue. He had a bakery and would bake matzohs for Passover. Berl
Segal (der fuks [the fox]) was well-to-do and blessed with six
daughters and could read well. Kalman Wolowitz (a soldier in Nicholas’s
army) served for 18 years in the military. He was a tailor (der
flinker soldat [the agile soldier]). Most everyone belonged to the
military generation.

The young rarely came to
read Psalms. However they would come to hear a page of Gemara,
how one interpreted it and who does the best with a grobn finger
[Translator’s note: Fat finger – pointing with a thumb, a gesture
used in Talmudic discussions; i.e. who was giving the best
interpretation.] and whose tobacco smelled the strongest. The kheder boys
would take part and[as a result of
what they learned] it was easier to study in kheder. The older
one, Haim-Itshe (der hoze [the hare]) was fat. However, Haim the
fisherman (der shpringer [the jumper]) had a good knowledge of
the Gemara. Zalman Wolowitz (der ein oig [the one with one
eye]) was a glazer and would paint the wagons and the sleds. He would
clean and, thereby, embellish the shtetl and the area surrounding
it. Mendl-Leib Ewin, the tinsmith, was very learned in Rashi. A daughter
of Abraham Katz (di opgebrente bak [the burned cheek]) left for
Palestine at the beginning of the thirties to build the future Jewish
land. She lived in Kibbutz Emir. [There was] Bentshe Korb, the peddler.
Reb Yudl, the oldest Jew in the shtetl, would repeat what he had
heard from his grandfather and from his great grandfather. He would be
listened to with open mouths. I will repeat that he lived with a friend
who was named Itshe (the Smalewitsher Rabbi), who lived near the
Swadeser mountain, so they were called the Smalewitsher because it was
sandy. And in Lithuanian "sand" is "smelys"
so he remained the "sandy" rabbi. He had a fine beard. He was
the bath attendant at the bathhouse, a partner of Shaya-Leib Tsibil and
they both were members of the khevra kadishe [burial society].
They would repair the graves, the fences, despite the fact that the
graves had stood for hundreds of years. They were there and were taken
care of from generation to generation. They would bring stones and near
the fences there was a pit where they would burn the stones. It would
become wafne (lime), the city’s cement.

Right at the start of the
war in 1941, the Lithuanians murdered Jews from the shtetl and
threw them in the lime pit. Shaya-Leib was the shamas [sexton] in
the synagogue and was the Torah reader and the headstone maker. We
children would come to his home to play with his kid goats. His wife,
the Bubba [grandmother] Ruchl would receive us very kindly and be
happy that we played with the goats and it was a joy for everyone.
Michel Berkal, was not poor. Yonah Segal would trade fine horses. Yudl
Kopelanski was a shoemaker. Dovid Eidelman was a watchmaker and had a
large dry goods store. Moshe Eidelman lived off his small piece of
earth. Shimeon Shlosberg was the leikhter furman [wagon driver
who carried people rather than heavy goods] and worked his small piece
of land. My father, Ishy Kopelanski [and our family], then lived in
Ushpol and we had a leather business with a tannery. Shlomoh Udelman (Ilyatski’s
son) would trade horses. Shlomoh Shlasberg was old; he would trade fine
horses. Chaim-Yankl Kaganowitz was a bit of a shoe repairman. We would
call him der latutnik [the patcher] in the shtetl. He had
golden hands and was a very joyful person, with much humor. He would
make the shtetl joyous and he could read a page of Gemara.
With an instructive use of logic, he did it better than anyone else.
Yudl Shwirski, the malamed [teacher] in the kheder
[religious elementary school,] would only listen, prompt, correct
others.

Everyone would spend
pleasant shabbosim [Shabbats] sitting at a long table. At such a
table, wisdom would be heard with respect, without lofty words. Everyone
could express themselves. At such tables the big questions for the shtetl
would be settled. For instance, a new bath needed to be built and
the bath belonged to the shtetl. And such a question was a
painless one. It was decided without any fuss. A new mikvah
[ritual bath] was built at that time, larger and higher with a tin roof
with a steam room. We would steam our bones and we built an oven where
we would disinfect [clothing]. It was necessary to buy land to enlarge
the cemetery and we bought extra land and paid the Litvak Rameyk three
times as much as it was worth so that he would sell it. There were again
problems. The stone fences had to be made longer and it was necessary to
make sure the mikvah was warm in the winter. Not everyone in the
small shtiblekh [small Hasidic prayer houses] had the means with
which to buy wood. There were orphans and half orphans [Translator’s
note: a person with one living parent] and the government did not help.
The shtetele took care that the rabbis did not have to take even
a small role in the affair. Here I will underline that everyone was
required to pay various taxes to the government. The shtetlekh
lived their regular Jewish life with its deep roots all through the
years in spite of going through the struggles of daily life.

We must not omit the minyon;
here the Hasidim prayed, where Moshe the blacksmith was the main reader.
He was very learned, knowledgeable in Gemara. Zisman Wolowitz was
well-to-do and helped a lot. He was the gabay and the bel-koyre
[Torah reader]. His daughter emigrated to Palestine in the thirties
to build the future Jewish land. Yankl Birger was well-to-do. His
brother, Moshe Birger, was the baker in the shtetl, had a
business and farmed. Motl Metz was the forest [or wood] merchant in the shtetl.
Israel Shreier was well-to-do; his son, Asher, emigrated to Palestine in
1937 and he was stabbed to death by the Arabs at his Kibbutz Amir.
Josef Shlekhter (Yoshka Pandre [pejorative reference to Jesus and by
extension to Catholics]) was a very hard worker; he would sell flax and
cultivate his land. Yekl Aron (Irmetzke) was a butcher. Yankl Shlekhter
(di lapetes [the shovels, probably a reference to his having
large hands]) was also a butcher. Shlomoh Dutsh was Shlekhter’s
partner. Eltchik Klas (the card player) was also a butcher. Moshe
Paktrowitz was a builder. Moshe Numan was a shopkeeper. Abraham Musil
was a wagon driver. Israel Kurtzer (the Atzunisker [from Aytsyuntsy/Eiciunai])
would trade living cows with Josel (the tall one). Hertzl Weisberg was a
trade worker. Hershl Shlasber was an old, sick man. Moshe Turner was a
turner in the shtetl. And those who I have not mentioned, I beg
their pardon. However, they live in those remembered. Dozens of years
have passed and I forget. Here, I will say with my whole heart that
there was brotherhood, much humor and not a little education at both
tables. The adult generation was forged at such tables and took to their
heart pride in their heritage.

We cannot omit the
Lithuanians’ and the Russians’ day of Sunday. How many drunkards
would lie about in the streets, many with split open heads? Tomatoeswould fly in abundance…It was worse with the Russians, there
were many cases where there would be stabbings or heads would be split
by small weights. Not one Sunday would pass without such occurrences…We
were an example; our culture was higher. I will begin to repeat what I
wrote in my memoirs, what our dear little grandfathers described and
repeated from what their grandfathers described…from the times of the
French war in 1812. A battle took place around Bariai, as it was then
called. Now it is called Ushpol. Bairai remains as a sort of village and
it burned. Many houses became ruins. The stones remained from the church
on a sort of elevation with a walled in cross and there was a well.
During the summer, we would go strolling on the worn out pathways near
the Sventoji River and go to the spot – it was called Krakul (Krakulas
in Lithuanian) and drink well water. This was a very holy spot for the
Lithuanians and the Jewish cemetery – a half of it, broken - remains
on the other side of the river. It was started after Napoleon’s
departure. A new church was built on the other side of the river. It
took several years. There were those who would speak of lasting rumors.
One, an old Lithuanian, Shvilas, would often say that his grandfather
built the church. Only Catholics built it; it took three years to build.
We children would very much like to listen [to the stories]. For us it
would seem like children’s stories and Reb Yudl would tell the same
[stories] and still more [about] where the church stands and where the
market was every Tuesday. On the other side of the river is a bridge (Patiltu
in Lithuanian). The river flows through the middle of the shtetl
and divides it. Because of the sound of the name, instead of Bairai, it
was named Ushpol and thus it remained. As I have already explained,
despite the fact that the surrounding villages were part of Bairai, many
Jews lived in them and were involved in flourishing businesses.

Uzhumishki [Uzumiskiai] was
only a half-Jewish village in which the Jews were involved in
flourishing businesses… There was a mountain near Krakul. It was
called the Nafaliant Mountain. The name is from the past. The young Jews
would go up and spend time on the mountain on Lag B’Omer,
describing historical events, singing, dancing and trading colored eggs.
The Jews applied a strong hand to rebuilding the burnt shtetl and
it developed, despite the fact that at that time there were fewer Jews
because many had already left their birthplaces.The Jews built three synagogues. For us children, we could
not yet understand all of the past events. In the later years, a church
was built with a court planted with roses. The landowner of the court
was a Russian. His family was Ferekop. Not far from the shtetl on
Salaker Way before the village of Padz that was a Russian [village] from
before our time. Ferekop’s parents, and grandfathers, they were the
owners of the area. A mill was built that is still standing with an
inscription 1864. It played a very important role in shtetl life.
Various grains were ground, various boards were cut and a sort of fabric
was produced from wool from which people would sew winter clothes. And
it would light the shtetl. Many people made a living [from the
mill].

The Jews survived various
disturbances. The Lithuanians and the Jews were intertwined because both
the Lithuanians and the Jews were oppressed and carried out a struggle
for a just life. However, the Jews suffered more; they suffered from
Cossacks. In 1905, disturbances broke out in Russia. And who was guilty?
The Jews! At that time, the slaves of a landowner set his house on fire.
It burned down. The half wild Cossacks began a rampage immediately and
set fire to a synagogue and it burned down, as well as Jewish houses.
The shtetlekh were submerged in feathers which the wild Cossack
bandits had let out of the pillows. They destroyed many houses, beat
Jews with their whips. However, the Lithuanians hid and defended many
Jews. At that time, Czarist Russia called for the Lithuanians to make
pogroms on the Jews as had happened in Russia…

A [woman] writer stepped
forth, G. Petkewisheita… and said that we Lithuanians have ourselves
suffered so much, while the Jews exaggerate their suffering, they
humiliate us… particularly [they say] that until now they have
suffered even more than we, they fight more intensively than we do…
No, we Lithuanians cannot pollute ourselves with the Jewish serpents or
other inhabitants of our land. If religion or language divides us, the
same problems unite us. The trouble affects each group differently, and
in a different manner, but we must remember that we were ruled by the
old regime... But let us love, love one another. Life passed with the
same problems. The suffering of the shtetl healed. The synagogue
remained standing where it was, as an omen. It was fenced in and was a
holy place for all of the residents. The khupah [marriage canopy]
would be placed near the fence and the moon was honored there. People
began to leave the shtetl for various countries. However, they
did not lose their heritage. Various events would take place around
Passover. The holiday would be disrupted with stones thrown through
windows; Jews take gentile blood for Passover; a stigma on the Jews.

Who was responsible that in
the First World War the Russian military suffered defeat after defeat in
the battles against the Germans? The Jews! Because the Jews sold to the
Germans and hid gold in the cemetery and waited for the Germans. This
provoked the infuriated Cossacks, withdrawing from battles, running
through the cities, breaking everything that they would find, with a
great many murders. They carried out a pogrom in Anikst [Anykshchiai],
murdering 16 Jews. The government fiercely began to drive out the Jews
from settled areas, far into Russia. However, many remained. In this
case, Lithuanians hid many Jews in the villages. Those who were not well
hidden would pay dearly. My father, Itche, was not well hidden. A
Cossack found him in the garden and beat him with a whip. He remained a
cripple and could not walk without a cane. And he was not the only one
who remained crippled, and how many violent acts did the women survive?
As the Russians retreated, the Germans entered. They showed themselves
to be good to the Jews. A war is a war. Certainly, it had an impact on
the residents… The Germans built a military hospital for soldiers in
the shtetl. There was a Jew among the doctors. The doctors helped
the population as much as was possible. The Jewish doctor distinguished
himself more. Various epidemics would flare up at that time. In time,
many inhabitants were carried away, even the Jewish doctor. The building
has a Lithuanian name (Spitalos [hospital]) to this day. The
doctor remained in the shtetl after the war and died several
years later, as I told you. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery, near
the fence, because in spite of the fact that in life he saved and helped
the sick, he was not a practicing Jew. In those days, there were such
hardened Jews, and his name was not even written [on a headstone]. The
grass would be cleared from around his grave.

The First World War ended
and Lithuania received its independence. Over 4,000 Jews entered the
Lithuanian military; over 600 Jews voluntarily went to fight for
independent Lithuania. With the coming of Lithuanian independence, the
Jews received all rights, in every respect, but not ownership of the
land. [It can be said that] the Jews had autonomy rather than ownership
of the land. Before the First World War, 165 families lived in the shtetl.
They began to build Lithuania and many Jews entered the government and Sejm,
and in other cities, they were chosen as mayors. The Jews worked hard at
building the country and it kept blossoming. The Jews showed more joy at
the coming of independence than the Lithuanians. The Lithuanian
government divided land among those who were landowners’ slaves. The
landowners only had the right to possession of forty hectares [a hectare
equals almost 2.5 acres]. Many landowners began to sell land and
buildings. Shpranckowitz bought the mill in the shtetl. Six Jews
in Vyszun [Vyžuonos] bought the square. The government in Ushpol
rebuilt the stables as a folks-shul [secular school]. The Jewish folks-shul
and the Luthianian gymnazie [secondary school] were located in
the building for several years. At first, it was not so easy after the
war; many people died of various diseases. Many left the shtetl
for various countries and for Palestine, such as the two Shlanimski
brothers and Moshe-Leib Sher. They perished in the annihilation of the
pogrom of 1928 carried out by the Arabs. It is fitting here to underline
that Jews began to leave the surrounding villages and to gravitate to
the shtetl. The villages began to fall apart. With the help of
the government, people built workshops [in the areas] where they
received land. Every Jew did not receive free land, as was promised to
everyone who voluntarily fought for independence.

The young adult Lithuanians
became nationalists. It was felt when Hitler came to power in the
thirties and his roots spread and found soil [in which to grow]; we felt
it and, after a year, we felt it still more. In the last years before
the Second World War many joined as Hitler’s supporters and stated
their opinions openly. Before the Second World War, 100 Jewish families
lived in the shtetl. There would be gossip about the situation,
what is happening in the world at the time and talk about the
conditions. There were various opinions. There were those who said that
Hitler would break heads; others would say that we will hide among the
Lithuanian, as in the First World War and during various disturbances.
On Shabbos afternoons, the Jews would stroll and they would lean
on the handrails of the bridge and enter into conversations. There was
no lack of expert advice during a brotherly talk. The adult young people
were cultivated; there was no shortage of Jewish newspapers, despite the
fact that this was not a large shtetl. There was a Jewish
library. The library was maintained by Tzipala Loifer, the sock-knitter.
There was no lack of books.

Here I will indicate how to
discover the places, how everything the old women would tell and retell
about the past is all true. In the middle of 1930’s a Christian
entered the Jewish folks-shul and told Dovid Anteshilski, the
teacher, that in the village of Bairai a Christian dug ahole in
the groundand struck several
skeletons. We went with the folks-shul to look, because the
students were interested. Later, we learned that the place was a French
military [cemetery], not a large [Jewish] cemetery. We happened to be in
Saratov during the Second World War and looked for the place where the Yeshiva
and the young Yeshiva students were burned on Galegar Street,
which I still remember is number 41 and about which there are still
rumors in the shtetl. And the teacher, Reb Abraham Rit, would
tell his students that with another [person] he succeeded in jumping out
through a second story window. The Yiddish folks-shul taught a
love of nature. On Lag b’Omer [Translator’s note: minor
holiday celebrated with picnics and bonfires; it falls on the 18th
of Iyar (usually in May), and commemorates the day, in about 130
B.C.E., on which the students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying during a
plague] we would go to the Vyszun forests with the folks-shul and
the teacher Aneshilski [Translator’s note; his name is spelled
differently above] in the lead and dig up small trees and the teachers
would remind us that the Jews had lived on the land and there were also
forests. Bees would circle around; we students would be busy catching
various butterflies, lizards and certain little snakes and the teacher
would tell us about everything, ignoring the fact that many students had
swollen cheeks or hands from the stingsof the bees, from their
kisses. We would plant the small trees near the Jewish folks-shul
instead of on Tu B’Shvat [Translator’s note: the new year for
trees – the Jewish Arbor Day], because [on Tu B’Shvat] the
earth would be frozen. On Tu B’Shvat we would replant the
flower pots. We would prepare summer soil. This is how we would pass the
holidays in the shtetl of Usphol.

We do not lose our roots,
despite the fact that many of our people have lost [their connection] to
their roots. However, our history and rich tradition make us proud of
our heritage. My visit to Lithuania in 1993 was very important to me,
although it was very distressing and quite painful. After several dozen
years, I had again come to the yearly memorial service in Resha [Riese]
near Utyana [Utena] to introduce twenty Jews to the several hundred
residents of the area. Among the Jews were two men who came from England
– David Sadur, an educated man in the area of computers from London
University, and Benjamin from Oxford. They both came to search for their
roots in the soil which their great grandfathers left years ago. They
looked for a person who could tell them about the Jews who had lived
here. We met and I was happy to help them. We drove over the uninhabited
obliterated shtetlekh. David’s family came from Salak [Salakas];
Benjamin’s from Volkomir [Ukmergė].

A sad picture appeared
before our eyes when we traveled through the destroyed shtetlekh,
where we encountered individual orphaned houses, a memory of former
Jewish shtetl life. The first shtetl we stopped in was
Taragin [Tauragnai], a shtetl that was known for its proverbs. We
visited the cemetery. We saw a terrible picture of destruction and
abandonment. A large numbers of headstones were broken, thrown around;
the graves were dug up by robbers, who like wild animals, searched for
gold among the recklessly thrown and uncovered bones. Benjamin grabbed
his head in pain and alarm, but he immediately recovered. They
earnestly, calmly and cold bloodedly considered the situation; we must
show the world and they recorded it with a video camera. Later, when
they returned to England, they sent me a copy of the video film. Later,
we visited Utyana. I described for them how the city looked before the
war, that a thousand fine Jews had lived here. There were seven
synagogues, a yeshiva, a pro-gymnazie [Translator’s
note: school that prepares students to enter the gymnazie], a
Jewish folks-shul [secular school] and a Hebrew schoolin
the city. There was a strong Zionist movement here. Many halutzim
[pioneers] went on hakshore [Translator’s note: agricultural
training to prepare for emigration to Palestine]. Yiddish songs echoed
in the streets and alleys. My two young acquaintances listened to my
descriptions with great interest and tears appeared in their eyes. We
traveled to the cemetery and, again, saw the same picture of wantonness,
as by the worst animals: broken, wrecked. We traveled to my birthplace,
Ushpol, and we saw another terrible sight. The kolkoz [collective
farm] built a building where food for the pigs was prepared on the new
part of the cemetery on the spot where the Lithuanians had murdered the
Jews immediately during the first days of the war and had used the
headstones for a stable. I explained to them how cheerful the shtetele
was, how many Jews lived there. They grasped everything with the same
tears. Everything was recorded by the video camera.

From Ushpol, we went to
Vyszun. They saw more surviving Jewish houses. Over 60 Jewish families
lived here. I explained that each Jewish shtetl had lived its own
independent life, with all of its traditions. We went to the cemetery
and saw the terrible scene on the cemetery of the stables that had been
built – one for pigs using the headstones – there were only a few
half broken headstones. We read the names on the headstones. It was a
terrible picture. From there we traveled to the Lithuanian (mohilnik
[graveyard]) cemetery, where shtetl and murdered Jews are buried.
The cantor and shoykhet [religious slaughterer], Yisroel Yankl
Fiker, said Psalms that wrenched the heart at the three pits to which
the murdered were driven. We explained to several Lithuanians and they
themselves wept. At Sychany [Sicioniai], Rabbi Zalman Melcer told them
that God would pay them for everything. Their children would be ashamed
of them. We visited several more places around the shtetl and in
the shtetl.

From there, we traveled to
Zielonka [Žalioji], where the murdered Jews are buried, among them my
father. We looked for three mass graves in Sventupia. My hand is unable
to describe the savagery and cruelty of the butchers. I will remember a
small episode, just one from the many thousand cases that was related. A
small girl, Pesala Shneider, was her name, put on her Shabbos clothes
because Shabbos fell on that day. She hugged her mother and said
in Lithuanian, "They will not see any tears from me," and
calmly went to her death. From there we traveled to Resha near Utyana,
where the aktsie [Translator’s note: German word, usually used
to described selections and deportations] took place, and they again saw
the twelve long mass graves. With tears in his eyes, David said a few
words. These are the images they saw. Despite everything, they were not
cut off from their roots; just the opposite, they were bound more
strongly to them. David and Benjamin saw all of the sad stories I
outlined with tears in their eyes. After a while, we parted and they
returned home. After their visit, things changed. Bloody wounds were
opened. Despite the fact that it was very painful, it was also very
useful. The stables and the buildings were taken down from the cemetery.
The disposal of cattle [at the cemetery] was forbidden. The wild grasses
were pulled out at the cemetery. The headstones at the Ushpol Cemetery
that had remained thrown around were re-erected. Care was taken of the
area in which they remained. Here I will emphasize that the local
Russians helped greatly in the destruction of the Jewish cemeteries
during the reign of the Communists of the second Inquisitor Stalin. A
memorial was erected in Sventupia on which is written in Yiddish that
here lie the Vyszun Jews murdered by the Germans and there
collaborators.

After their visit, Linda
Cantor and her father came from America to look for their roots, where
their great grandfathers and grandmothers left the shtetlekh in
about 1886. The grandfather’s ancestry descends from Ushpol; the
grandmother’s from Kupishok; both mentioned shtetlekh played an
important role in Jewish life. They came in 1995, even though many years
had passed [since their ancestors lived here] because one cherishes one’s
roots. Despite such great assimilation, there is in America a distinct
Ushpoler community that sticks together as one. In Ushpol, they met Gena.
Despite the fact that her mother converted, she considers herself a Jew.
They saw everything that remained. Certainly, no one told them that the
Lithuanians murderously tore out the Jews’ deep roots. Here, I will
particularly emphasize that in the past the Lithuanians defended the
Jews, hiding them during various disturbances. However, during the
Second World War, of all the people who took part in murder, the
Lithuanians excelled. They stand first.